BRENNAN, Kathleen Adele
| Service Number: | Nurse |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Nurse |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia, 15 November 1882 |
| Home Town: | Woollahra, Woollahra, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Sacred Heart Convent School, Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Nurse |
| Died: | Septic Pericarditis following Influenza, 5th Northern General Hospital, Leicester, England , 24 November 1918, aged 36 years |
| Cemetery: |
Leicester (Welford Road) Cemetery, England Screen Wall. O1. 198. |
| Memorials: | Melbourne St. Paul's Cathedral Australian Army Nursing Service Great War Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Nov 1918: | Involvement Nurse, Nurse |
|---|
Nurse Kathleen Adele Brennan
Kathleen Adele Brennan was born in Sydney on 15 November 1882, the eldest of five children. On the outbreak of the First World War, it was agreed that while all five children wanted to serve, one girl and one boy would need to remain in Australia to look after their elderly parents.
Kathleen was able to go, and enlisted with the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) with the Australian Red Cross. She left Australia in September 1916 on the SS Osterley and on arrival in England was posted to the 5th Northern General Hospital in Leicester. She served there until November 1918, when she died from Septic Pericarditis, following Influenza.
She was buried in Leicester (Welford Road) Cemetery but as her grave is unmarked, she is commemorated on the Screen Wall. O1. 198. Her body was interred in the soldiers corner of the cemetery.
Her coffin, which was covered with a Union flag, was borne to the cemetery on a gun carriage, followed by a large procession of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) staff and VAD nurses from North Evington and the base hospitals.
Submitted 1 August 2018 by Geoffrey Gillon
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
Courtesy of Cathy Sedgwick
The Catholic Press (Sydney, N.S.W.) 28-11-1918
By cable has come the announcement of , the death of Kathleen Adele Brennan, younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Brennan, of 'Woollahra. Miss Brennan went to England some two or three years ago; she was one of the V.A.D. who offered their services to the military authorities, and because of their special efficiency were accepted. Prior to leaving Sydney she had been doing work in one of the military hospitals, and had proved herself very capable in nursing. It was while doing duty in the North Evington War Hospital, Leicester, England, that she succumbed to influenza. Much sympathy is felt for Mr. and Mrs. Brennan, who have already been sufferers by the war, their second son having been killed about two years ago. Miss Adele Brennan, who was educated at the Sacred Heart Convent, Rose Bay, was very popular amongst her old convent friends. —R.I.P.
Biography contributed by Cathy Sedgwick
The summary below was completed by Cathy Sedgwick (OAM) – Facebook “WW1 Australian War Graves in UK & Ireland”
Kathleen Adele Brennan was born on 15th November, 1882 at Woollahra, Sydney, New South Wales to parents William Francis & Elizabeth Mary Brennan (nee Keating).
She embarked from Australia as one of 30 members of the Australian Red Cross who had volunteered as probationers with V.A.D. (Voluntary Aid Detachment) for service in British Military Hospitals in England during the First World War.
Voluntary Aid Detachment member Adele Brennan was posted to 5th Northern General Hospital at Leicester, England from 18th November, 1916.
Voluntary Aid Detachment
The primary role of a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) member was that of nursing orderly in hospitals, carrying out menial but essential tasks - scrubbing floors, sweeping, dusting and cleaning bathrooms and other areas, dealing with bedpans, and washing patients. They were not employed in military hospitals, except as ward and pantry maids; rather, they worked in Red Cross convalescent and rest homes, canteens, and on troop trains.
At the start of the First World War, Australian VADs were restricted from traveling overseas by the Defence Council. As a result, many chose to travel on their own initiative and join British detachments, often in Australian Hospitals. It is reported that the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital included in their nursing staff some 120 VADs, chiefly Australians in the British service, employed through the Australian Red Cross Society. This policy was changed in 1916 after a request from Great Britain, and the first detachment of thirty official Australian VADs to serve overseas left Australia in September 1916.
(Information from The Australian War Memorial)
Nurse Kathleen Adele Brennan died on 24th November, 1918 at 5th Northern General Hospital, Leicester, England from Septic Pericarditis following Influenza. (Note: Some sources state that Miss Brennan died at North Evington War Hospital, Leicester, Leicestershire, England.)
She was buried in Welford Road Cemetery, Leicester, Leicestershire, England – Memorial Reference – Screen Wall 01. 198. She does not have a headstone but her death is still acknowledged by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
(The above is a summary of my research. The full research can be found by following the link below)
https://ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com/leicester.html
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